Playmates
has hooked up with Toys R Us once again to give us the third exclusive
Treehouse of Horror playset.

Similar to the first series, this one
doesn't have a particular theme. We have four figures from different
THOH episodes, plus the playset, of course.

The playset is called the 'Ironic
Punishment' playset, based on the Ironic Punishment Division of Hell that
Homer ended up in.

There are four figures - Evil Willie (better
known to most as Krueger Willie), Donut Head Homer, Witch Marge, and Hugo,
Bart's 'evil' twin.

These are a Toys R Us exclusive, and retail
for $35. They are *just* hitting, so you can expect to see them at
your local store over the next two to three weeks. Checking regularly
is the best bet!

Packaging - ***
The packaging is no surprise to folks that have picked up the previous
two. The playset is in pieces in the back half, with the figures in
the front.

Technically, it's collector
friendly, or at least more so than past sets. If you wanted to be
careful, you could take it apart and return it to it's home at a later date
without destroying the package, but it takes a little effort.

Sculpting - ****
My favorite aspect of this entire set is the sculpting. Donut Head
Homer is just perfect, and the Witch Marge and Hugo are both extremely well
executed. I suspect Donut Head Homer will also leap to the front of
the pack in terms of weight - he's one solid figure.

True, Willie isn't as exciting, but it's not the fault of
the sculpt. His pose is great, the hat is sculpted to fit over his eyebrows,
and his hands are sculpted perfectly to hold the rake.

That's an important note on all the figures - unlike some
past releases, they can all hold their appropriate accessories

The sculpting of the playset itself is great. The
detail on the stalactites is great, and the little gremlin/devil character
sculpted onto the back wall looks great.

This playset is larger than usual as well - it's about a
quarter inch taller, 3/4" deeper, and 1/2" wider. Those are
eyeball estimates too, since I didn't get the old measuring tape out.
Suffice to say it's slightly bigger, and I hope we see that trend.
There's plenty of room to use all three pegs.

Paint - **
While the sculpting is the best part of this set, the paint ops are the
worst. I had trouble with the paint ops on every figure at some level.

Donut Head Homer has an important change from the prototype
- his arms are the appropriate yellow. However, there's a bit of slop
around his detail areas, like the watch and tie.

Witch Marge looks pretty good at first, but on closer
inspection, you can see a splotchyness to the black. That's a color
that can be tough to get consistent, and they missed the mark slightly here.
Most important however, and very much on the plus side, is her slightly
green tinge. People would have been very disappointed had she simply
been yellow.

Hugo has some issues with his red shirt - the left sleeve on
mine was clearly lighter than the rest of the shirt, and you could see some
of the yellow showing through.

Willie is the best for paint quality, but loses big points
for not having the stripes on his sweater. Some might see it as a
minor point, but most people will be disappointed by their absence.

Articulation - **1/2
The articulation is the same as always - neck, shoulders, waist - but the
sculpting really helps here.

They sculpted the hands and arms on Marge, Homer and Willie
just right to hold the accessories and have the perfect pose, making the
articulation less necessary than usual.

Accessories - ***There's always a debate on what could have been selected as accessories
for these sets, but they went with the fairly obvious and appropriate.

Marge gets her broom, Willie his rake and hat, Homer his donut, and
Hugo...well, Hugo gets squat. There's also the cool tub of 'hot dog
meat', with human parts visible on the top.

While the accessories are all well done, I was a bit perplexed by Homer's
donut. First, it's yellow - I don't remember it being yellow.
Also, it looks very little like a donut, and if they had reused the molds
from one of the previous donuts, it would have looked a lot better.
Perhaps I'm simply forgetting something special about the donuts in the
episode...

Talking Feature - **
Unfortunately, the special exclusive sets don't work with the rest of the
figures in the line, but they did a good job on picking cool lines here:

Homer:
-"Oh, but I'm so sweet and tasty"
-"If I don't finish this last bit, you don't get my soul, right?"
-"Mmmm, forbidden donut"

Hugo:
-"I went mad after they cut us apart, but I'll be sane once I sew us
back together"
-"Do you know what it's like to be locked in an attic for 10 years
where your only friend is a baby food jar full of screws?"
-(gnawing)

So why the low score with all the cool lines? Because I had a hell of a time
getting any of the figures to fit on the pegs, and even managed to pull
Marge's out of here feet just trying. I know Playmates is looking into
this, but it really hurts the set.

Value - ***
It's an appropriate price, considering the prices of other sets and
figures. Four regularly price figures would cost between $24 and $28
bucks, and about $10 more for the playset itself seems reasonable.

Overall - ***
This set falls between 1 and 2 - I like it better than the first set, with
greater detail and a better back wall, but not quite as much as the Kang
and Kodos set. Don't get me wrong - I'm really pleased to get it,
and Donut Homer is a four star figure on his own, but there were a few
issues holding the set back from perfection.

Where to Buy -
Toys R Us! Amazon.com also had it on-line for a short period,
but it's gone again now. You might want to keep an eye on it though, just
in case.